Reality?
by Jhomtunio
Summary: Who would've thought 4 Leaf-nin and 4 Akatsuki would end up together without fighting. The reason...No chakra and they've been teleported to Earth, where they end up staying with three girls who know more about them than they do. Crack-fic.
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

"Why are we going on such a stupid mission?"

"Does it matter? We only have to retrieve a jutsu scroll from a small village outside the border."

"I don't care what we do. As long as there is food in it for me." A rather skinny Choji looked over to the pink-haired kunoichi.

Ever since Sai had died, Choji-for some unknown reason-had decided to lose weight and eat healthier. When Ino asked why, he simply told her that he did not want to be a burden.

The silver-haired jounin listened to his teammates and a small grin formed on his masked face. Naruto and Sakura had grown close to Choji. More so than they had with Sai and even Sasuke. He often wondered if it was because of the two ninja's deaths.

Sai had died six years back while following Kabuto. Yamato had called off the chase because of the nine-tailed foxes surge in power, but Sai refused to give up. He and Kabuto had created a lot of destruction in their battle. Eventually, Kabuto gained the upper hand and attacked Sai with a fatal blow to his chest. Naruto and Sakura were both devastated. They had grown to like the almost apathetic boy.

About two months later, Tsunade got word of Kabuto's location. When Team Kakashi reached the destination they found more than just their target. Kabuto and Sasuke were in the middle of a battle so fierce they were both on the verge of collapse, if not death. At one point, they stumbled and fell to the ground, unconscious.

Taking the chance, Sakura and Choji rushed to help Sasuke. Kakashi and Naruto ran to restrain the rogue medic before he could wake up.

As they finished tying him up, Choji walked over carrying Sasuke. Sakura was right behind him mumbling something about how bad his condition was. The team hurried back to Konoha as quickly as possible while carrying the two unconscious men.

When the returned, both Kabuto and Sasuke were admitted into the hospital. Their chakra was depleted and they were strapped to their beds as a safety precaution.

One week later, Sasuke's condition was so bad that even he knew that he would die soon. He would often talk about the older Uchiha, Itachi. Their conversations usually ended with him saying that he wished his brother were there during his last moments of life. Then he would stop speaking and stare out the window.

Early one morning, Tsunade summoned the team with grim news. Sasuke had passed away. After leaving over eight years before, and finally coming home, the young prodigy had left this horrible world. Barely twenty-one and already gone. The life of a ninja is destined to end in early death.

The next day, Kabuto woke up and requested to speak with the Hokage. He told her that he wanted to become a medic-nin for Konoha. She asked why and he stated that his personal mission was finished, Sasuke was dead.

Tsunade informed him that once he was well, they would talk about it once more. He agreed and Tsunade ordered that his chakra be replenished and his restraints removed. He was fully recovered and walking around his room a month after being brought to the village. Tsunade had her personal ANBU escort him to her office, where they made arrangements for his future.

She had decided that he could stay, but for the first year he wouldn't be allowed to leave the village. He wasn't allowed to have weapons for the first six months. He was given an apartment to stay in and get him back on his feet. He would be working at the hospital for now starting the next day.

Three years passed with no conflict. Kabuto remained loyal to the Leaf. The only things they learned from Akatsuki were that Itachi and Deidara had been resurrected. Although, so far they hadn't had trouble from them.

As Kakashi watched his younger teammates, he couldn't help but worry about what would happen if they took Naruto. He was going to be the next Hokage. He would be the best Kage ever. Ranking high above even Gaara.

"How long 'til we get there? I could really go for some ramen right now." Naruto complained. As he finished speaking, His stomach growled and Sakura and Choji laughed.

Kakashi had to chuckle a little. Same old Naruto. Won't ever miss a chance to get ramen. "About ten minutes. When we reach the village; it's mission first, food second."

Even Choji smirked at the comment. Naruto glared at him and walked ahead of them. "Fine."

It was already getting darker when they reached the village. Sakura thought it had been a nice day today. Summer was looming closer so the days were longer and very hot in Fire country. Today was considerably cooler and a clam breeze was blowing through her hair.

They didn't have to actually look for the home where the scroll was located. There weren't very many houses in this village. When they reached the building, they noticed an odd chakra. They mask their own chakra and enter the house. They stop to figure out where it is coming from and Kakashi beckons them to enter a door to the left. It the center of the room is a small scroll.

"Why is it glowing blue?" Naruto asks as he moves forward and stands directly in front of the item.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think we should do anything with it yet." Sakura states as she studies the scroll on the table.

Four men in cloaks entered the small village. Civilians quickly moved away from them and what looked like their destination. The tallest among them looked rather bored. The blonde had a scowl on his face that seemed to show he was upset about something. The one wearing an odd mask with only one eyehole was walking with a bounce in his step. As if he were excited for what would come next.

The smallest of the odd group seemed to be the one villagers feared the most. He hap piercing red eyes and a lighter shade of black hair. He had a dark aura that even a civilian could sense.

He led the other three to a small building near the center of the town. As they entered, they sense familiar chakra and prepare for a fight. They reach a open room on the left and pause. They scroll they were sent to retrieve was surrounded by four people.

"Kyuubi." the tall man said quietly enough so only his companions could hear him. They start to move forward, when a bright light erupts from the scroll and everything goes black.


	2. Chapter 1

**I usually update at random. So if it takes a while for the next chapter to come out, just wait. It will come out eventually. If you feel there is something that needs fixing message me or review saying what it is you need to. Please, refrain from any rude comments about my story.**

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

Two girls stand warily at the edge of a clearing. They're looking at a group of eight unconscious people with shocked expressions. The brunette finally finds her voice. "I'm kinda glad we decided to explore this tree farm again."

"How do you think they ended up here?" The taller of the two questioned as her eyes flickered over to the blonde Akatsuki.

"I thought Itachi and Deidara were dead. Why is Choji with Team Kakashi? Where is Sai?…"

"Stop rambling, Chels. I'am sure we can get answers later.

"Uhm…Jess?"

"What?" Jessica looks over to Chelsea.

"Looks like we'll get answers now." Chelsea points toward the blue Akatsuki.

"Gods. Why does Kisame have to wake up first?"

The shark-like man was indeed stirring. He slowly sits up and begins rubbing his temple. It takes a few minutes before he realizes that he is being watched. He looks up and sees a pair of girls across the clearing. They begin to move forward and he stands with a sigh.

"If he kills us, I blame you." Jessica whispers. "Don't attack him yet, either." Chelsea hesitates, then nods slowly. They get with in ten feet from him and stop.

"Who are you?" He asks viciously.

They look at each other quickly. "I'm Jessica, this is Chelsea, and you.." She points at him. "You're Hoshigaki Kisame. Former member of the Seven Swordsman. Missing-nin from the Hidden Mist Village. You are now a member of Akatsuki."

"Your ring has the symbol for South. It is on your left ring finger. You sword, Samehada, Absorbs chakra and only you can wield it." Chelsea finishes with a confident grin.

By now, Kisame's eyebrow is slightly raised and a smirk is formed on his lips. "How do you know all of this?"

"We've read a lot about you." Jessica states calmly.

"I'm not sure why the hell it is, but I trust you girls. How old are you?"

"We're seventeen. You must be in your thirties." Chelsea replies feeling a great amount safer around him now.

"Thirty-two. Where are we?" He begins taking in their surroundings. "Some kind of forest?"

Jessica speaks up. "Actually, it's a tree farm. We're in a town called Pollock Pines. You wouldn't know it because it is on Earth. A planet in a different dimension from yours."

"WHY THE FUCK AREN'T I DEAD!!!"

The two girls look down at the ground next to Kisame to find a rather pissed off Deidara. Jessica's eyes immediately widen in glee. "OhmygodOhmygodOhmygod!!!" She all but squeals and tackles Deidara. He barely has time to realize what just happened when the breath is knocked out of him and he finds himself on the ground once more.

Kisame looks over to him smirking like hell. He turns back to Chelsea to ask what's going on, but pauses when he sees the huge grin on her face. He notices the gleam in her eye and realizes what she is thinking. He opens his mouth to speak, but is stopped by a jarring force. The next thought to pop into his head. "Oh shit! Ground!"

"Why must you let your guard down like that, Kisame?" Itach istands up and looks around the small clearing.

As he figures out what happened, Kisame and Diedara carefully stand up. It is rather difficult because the girls are clinging on to them like leeches. "If you don't get off, I swear I'll…" Deidara starts to say.

"SEMPAI!!! You're awake, Sempai. Tobi missed you. Why is there a girl holding on to you?" Tobi cocks his head in confusion.

"I don't know why, but I'm about to blow her to bit is she doesn't fucking let go of me."

Jessica glares at him. "Actually, there is no chakra in this world, so you won't be able to blow anything to bits." Nevertheless, she lets go and takes a step back.

Kisame, on the other hand, was having a bit more trouble with Chelsea. He didn't want to hurt her because he trusted the two teenagers. This gave him a slight disadvantage. Jessica looked over at the pair with an amused expression.

"They're going to be great friends." She states as she turns to fully face them and crosses her arms.

"I actually agree with you on that." Deidara says grinning.

Tobi looks over at the odd pair, confused yet again. "What so you mean, Sempai?"

"He's laughing. It shoes that he is having a great time. From what I can tell he won't even think of hurting her."

"They're both having fun, but we need them to stop so we can figure out how you got here in the first place." Jessica points out.

_God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy…_

"Wait a sec, Kisame. Sam is calling." Chelsea says as she settles on his shoulders and answers her phone. "Hullo? Hi, Sam. We're at the tree farm and we have a big surprise for you. Ok, Bai."

"What did she call for?" Jessica asks.

"She's at the house. She'll be here in a few minutes. Uhm…Tie up Naruto. I don't want him attacking anyone when he wakes up. Especially, these four."

"Tobi will do it!!!" He says and practically bounces to do the task.

"I'll be back. Gotta explain what we know to Sam so she doesn't freak out." Jessica says as she heads out of the clearing.

"Great. She leaves me alone with eight ninja. Five of which are S-class." Chelsea sighs and shakes her head.

"That's not fair, princess." Kisame looks up at the girl with a grin receiving a glare for the nickname he gave her. "Four of us are still unconscious, Tobi couldn't hurt a fly, and Itachi will want information. I trust you so I won't cause you any harm and if Deidara touches you, I'll break his hands." He finishes with a chuckle.

"Wow. And here I thought you were vicious. You're just a big, blue, protective teddy bear. I like that in a friend." Chelsea replies with a grin of her own.

"You do, huh? I guess I'll take that as a compliment."

Itachi looks up at where Jessica had left. "She's back with your friend."

"Another person!? YAY! That makes Tobi happy."

As Tobi starts to jump around in glee, Jessica re-enters the clearing with another girl. This one is a little shorter than Jessica, but taller than Chelsea. She has poofy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. When she sees the group in the clearing her eyes widen and she moves over to whisper in Jessica's ear. The taller girl nods and moves over to the Akatsuki.

"Guys, this is Sam. Sam, I think you know who everyone here is." Jessica summarizes.

Sam looks over to Kisame and realizes who is on his shoulders. "What are you doing up there, Chels?" She asks with a skeptical look.

"Having fun? He's actually not that bad. He may look scary but he's just a big teddy bear. Although, from what I can tell, he hates being called that." She replies with a wink.

"Why hasn't she freaked out and tackled anyone like you two did?" Deidara questions with a wary look at the other blonde.

"I'm a more rational person than they are if you haven't noticed. My favorite person is here, yet he is unconscious. I could have raped him by now if I was like these two." Sam answers in an even tone.

"I don't think they will be waking up very soon. Maybe we should take them back to the house. What do you think, Jess?"

"I think that is a great idea. The only problem is how are we going to get them there?" Jessica looks at the four unconscious ninja across the small clearing.

"These four can carry them. It may sound farfetched, but if they don't want to be stuck outside in a world they don't know…" Chelsea glances down at Kisame and he sighs heavily.

"Fine. I guess we'll help. Only because you know this place a lot better than we do and you might be able to help us get back to our world."

"That's the spirit!!! I'll walk so you don't have to carry as much weight." She climbs down from his shoulders and moves over to Tobi. "You can carry Naruto, because I trust you not to hurt him. Ok?"

"Got it. Tobi's a good boy!!" He salutes and moves to pick up the blonde kyuubi boy.

"Kisame, I think you should carry Kakashi, because he weighs more than the others. Deidara can carry Choji and Itachi can carry Sakura." Once everyone has an unconscious ninja in their arms, Jessica speaks up.

"Just follow us and try not to look too suspicious. You look bad enough with those cloaks." Sam and Chelsea join her and they lead the way up to a trail that goes right alongside a small ditch.

* * *

It's only about three minutes before they reach a property with two houses. A red one and a blue one. The girls lead them to the red one and they enter the building.

"One sec." Chelsea says as her and Jessica move to a pair of couches. They each pull off the cushions and turn them into beds. "Place Kakashi and Naruto on the larger one and Choji on the smaller one."

Kisame, Tobi and Deidara set the three ninja on the beds and back up. "Bring Sakura in here and lay her on this bed." Chelsea leads Itachi into a large bedroom, where he sets her on the bed.

When they go back to the others, Jessica speaks up with an idea. "I think these four need separate rooms. Two of them will have to share though, because there are only three other bedrooms."

"Actually, one of them will have to share a room with me cause I live here. You could ask your mom if you can stay over for a while. Mum told me that you could stay over as long as you want as long as we keep the house looking decently clean. Come to think of it, that means everyone will have to share." Chelsea says with a thoughtful look.

"I'll call her right now. Don't plan anything major while I'm outside." Jessica grabs the house phone and heads out onto the porch.

"So, I think that Kisame and Itachi should share a room because they are teammates and I know they won't try to kill each other. That's all I can decide without Jessica. We'll figure out what to do with Deidara and Tobi."

"Tobi wants to share with Chelsea-chan!!! She is nice to Tobi." Tobi glomps Chelsea which causes her to fall into Deidara.

"What the hell, Tobi!!! Get off of me." Deidara shouts and pushes them away.

"Uhm…Did I come back in at a bad time?" Jessica is standing next to the two, looking down at them with a grin. "Mom said I could stay as long as I checked in every once in a while."

Tobi stands and helps Chelsea up. "That's great. According to Tobi, he wants to share with me. I think he should share with you because you don't have anger management." She says scowling.

"That means you will have to share with Deidara. Are you sure you're ok with that?" Jessica asks with a hint of disappointment in her tone.

"I don't want you raping him in the middle of the night. So, yeah, I am ok with it." Chelsea replies with a stern look.

"I agree with shorty. I'll share with her." Deidara quickly adds.

"Ok then. Tobi, you get to share with Jessica. You guys can have mum's room. Itachi and Kisame, you can have this room. There are two beds in here." Chelsea points to the room connected to the living room.

"That's fine. Thanks for the accommodations." Itachi says and walks into the room and closes the door.

"He's kinda anti-social, isn't he?" Jessica states after the door is closed.

"Just a little bit. He might get a little better once he's gotten to know you guys more." Kisame answers.

"Speaking of us. Where did Sam get to? She was right here a few minutes ago." Chelsea looks around the room for her blonde friend.

"I saw her go into that room when we got here." Deidara replies and points to the middle bedroom.

"Figures. She's hiding in my room." Chelsae heads to the room. "I'll be right back. Don't kill anyone while I'm out of the room.

* * *

"Sam, what are you doing?"

Sam looks over to Chelsea from the bed. "I'm writing a list."

"…Of what exactly?" Chelsea asks warily.

"Chores. If they're going to stay here, they are going to have to do some chores around the house." She replies with a smirk and continues writing.

"You're an evil person. I'm glad we became friends. That way I don't have to worry about you plotting my imminent doom." Chelsea sits on the bed next to her friend. "What chores are you having them do exactly?" She asks curiously.

"Oh, just simple household stuff. Kitchen duty, vacuuming, dusting, cleaning their rooms, keeping the property looking good. Stuff like that. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. You should know that they're going to hate you for this. I hope you're prepared for that."

"I'm not worried about it. They'll get over it in time. You never know. They could grow to see us as good friends."

"Kisame already sees me that way, from what I can tell. It's kinda funny how quickly he came to trust us." Chelsea grins at the thought of the giant shark-like man seeing anyone as a close friend.

"Time to find out what they think of their new jobs. I'm done making the list. Let's go."

Sam and Chelsea get up and open the door. They step out and stop in shock.

"What the hell?!?!" Chelsea shouts.

* * *

**Next time: "Why were you making-out with him??? Chelsea asks Jessica.**

"**I don't know. It just kind of happened. I'm sorry." Jessica replies with a sigh.**


	3. Chapter 2

****

Ok. I had to edit this chapter some because I forgot to put in the part where the Konoha-nin wake up and end up leaving. Sorry to anyone who was any level of confused. So, here's the new Chapter 2. I hope you enjoy it.

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* * *

Chapter 2:

"What the hell, Jess?"

Jessica jumps away from Deidara and turns to see Chelsea glaring at her. Sam is trying her hardest not to laugh at the scene before her.

"When I left the room, Kisame and Tobi were in here with you. Where are they?'

"Uhm…Kisame went to explore the property and Tobi followed him." She glances at Deidara before her eyes focus on a spot on the floor.

"Why were you making out with him?" Chelsea asks Jessica.

"I don't know. It just kinda happened." Jessica replies with a sigh.

"_How _did it happen?" Sam speaks up, eager for more detail.

"It's none of your damn business, yeah."

"Don't start a fight." Jessica places a hand on his shoulder. He tenses but doesn't move away. "We were talking and I asked if I could take a look at his hands. I moved closer to get a better look. At one point, I looked up and his face was right there. The next thing I knew…"

Chelsea nods to signify that she had heard a decent answer, but she continues to glare at the two.

"You guys are idiots." Sam states with a grin.

"I could've told you that." A deep voice comes from the direction of the front door. This is followed by the owner of the voice, Kisame, entering the room smirking.

"Where's Tobi?" Chelsea asks lightly.

"He's running around in a sprinkler he found outside."

"I'm going to bring him back inside." Chelsea heads out, missing the shark's grin.

She steps out onto the porch as Tobi falls to the ground, giggling. She turns the water off and walks over to him. "You're going to get yourself sick."

The childish man looks up at her. "You care if Tobi gets sick? That makes Tobi happy!" He stands up with her help and pauses. "Can Tobi hug you?" He asks warily.

She laughs. "Not until we find you some dry clothes. I think I have some that might fit you. Come with me." She grabs his wrist and half drags him back into the house.

Kisame gives her a confused look and watches as she leads Tobi to her bedroom and closes the door.

She lets go of Tobi's arm and grabs two towels from her closet. The first, she unfolds and places on the bed. "Sit here and use this towel to dry your hair while I find some clothes for you to wear." She hands him the smaller towel and begins to dig in her dresser.

"Thanks, Chelsea-chan." He replies and starts rubbing his hair dry. "Tobi really likes you."

Chelsea turns around holding a pair of black pants and a black Akatsuki themed shirt. She smiles and sits next to him. "I like you, too, Tobi. You're entertaining."

He cocks his head in confusion. "Really? No one has ever said that to Tobi before."

"Try these clothes on. They might be a little big but at least they'll work for now." She hands him the clean clothing.

"Uhm…" Tobi hesitates.

"What's wrong?"

"My mask." He whispers.

She laughs quietly. "Don't worry. I won't tell the others what you look like. I promise."

"Ok. Tobi will make an exception for you." He reaches up and slowly removes the mask from his face. He looks at Chelsea and she has to stifle a gasp.

He wasn't a man at all. He is a boy around her age. His face is shaped like a Hyuuga's but his nose is less pointed. Usually, a person with black hair has dark eyes. Tobi has bright, penetrating, ice blue eyes. Chelsea had to physically force herself from staring at him. He has a scar running down the whole left side of his face. She looks away while he changes.

"Ok, Tobi's done." Chelsea turns back to find he hasn't replaced his mask yet.

She reaches out and traces the scar. "How did this happen?" He hazel eyes meet his blue ones and she smiles. "It's ok, Tobi. You can trust me." She pauses with her hand resting on his cheek.

"My father attacked me with a sword when I was six because he blames Tobi for Tobi's mom's death. Tobi is blind in his left eye." He speaks quietly as a tear rolls down his cheek.

Chelsea wipes away the tear with her finger. "Poor Tobi." She scoots closer and pulls him into a tight embrace. A few moments later, Tobi pulls away and smiles softly. "I'll be here for you whenever you what to talk, or even if you just need a hug."

Tobi smiles and nods slowly. "Can Tobi stay in here?"

"Of course you can. I think we should go back out. They might start worrying soon."

"Ok!" Tobi replaces his mask and stands pulling Chelsea with him.

They head back into the living room to find Jess leaning on Deidara and reading a book. Kisame is standing against the wall, arms crossed and eyes closed. Sam is nowhere to be seen.

Kisame hears Chelsea and Tobi enter the room. "So…" He gives them a pointy-toothed grin.

Deidara and Jessica look up at the odd pair. "Why were you in there for so long, hmm?"

"Why does it matter, hmm?" Chelsea shoots back in a mock voice. They glare at each other. "If you have to know that badly, I needed to get him some dry clothes. Then we started talking. No, I'm not telling you all about it, either. Oh, and I've decided to change the rooming arrangements."

"What? How much did you change it?" Jessica blurts out.

"Tobi wants to stay in my room, which means that you're stuck with her, Deidara."

The blond man looks at Jessica and nods. "Ok, I can deal with it, yeah."

Jessica looks at Deidara with a sadistic look highlighting her face. Then she stands and walks into their room with a grin.

"Your romance is boring." Kisame says and heads into his and Itachi's room, closing the door rather loudly behind him.

Chelsea raises her eyebrow. "Ok, then."

"I know you don't like me much, but could I ask you a question?" Deidara looks at her curiously.

"What?"

"Why did Jessica go in there grinning, hmm?" He asks, slightly worried.

Chelsea pauses and decided to mess with the artist. "She's probably preparing for later tonight."

"How so?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just whips, chains, she might tie you to the bed." She replies with a triumphant smile.

Deidara looks down, thinking. A moment later, he looks back up at Chelsea, smirking. Exactly the opposite of what she was hoping for. "Sounds cool, yeah." He proceeds to stand and walk, head held high, into the bedroom after Jessica.

Now, Chelsea's grin has fallen to be replaced by an angry scowl. "God Dammit!" She shouts loudly.

"What's with the yelling?" A voice sounds from the couch/bed.

Chelsea and Tobi look over to find a half-drowsy Naruto trying to sit up. A few seconds later, he becomes angry and begins struggling against his bonds. "WHY THE HELL AM I TIED UP?"

Chelsea doubles over laughing at the boy. He realizes that he's being watched and stops moving. It takes a moment before Chelsea is composed enough to talk.

"You're tied up because I didn't want you attacking anyone when you woke up." She replies sternly, as if talking to a small child.

"Who would I…?" He pauses when he notices the other person in the room. He growls angrily at Tobi. "Akatsuki." He hisses. "What do you think you're doing? I thought you guys were done with. I defeated Pein. Where are we, anyways?" He pauses in his ranting to look out the large windows.

"First of all, do I look like I would even be asked to join the Akatsuki? Second, they have nothing to do with this. And third, you best be careful what you say. They brought you guys here to safety."

Naruto turns back to the short girl and glares. "Why would they do that?"

She scoffs. "I asked them to. I'm a neutral party, which means that I'm not taking sides. Although, I'm thinking of choosing the Akatsuki over you because you are really starting to piss me off. So just shut up and listen or I'll let Kisame have his way with you. Got it?"

Naruto's eyes widen in bewilderment at the ferocity of this girls anger. "You're a lot like Sakura-chan. It's funny." He states with a cautious smile.

Chelsea now has a curious look on her face. Tobi has disappeared to who-knows-where. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you get angry really quickly, just like Sakura."

She contemplates his words before answering with a suggestion of her own. "Actually, I think my anger is more like Deidara's. We both keep it pent up until we explode. It doesn't last too long, though. Kind of like when a bomb explodes." Her eyes widen in realization. "Oh God!"

"Uhm…" Naruto raises his eyebrow skeptically.

"I just compared myself to Deidara in a good way!" Chelsea exclaims in disgust. "That's a bad thing. We hate each other."

"So…"

"You're a dumbass. It's not even worth it to yell at you. I'll take it out on Deidara later."

"Untie me." Naruto demands, ignoring Chelsea's comment.

"Why should I? You might attach someone."

"Why would I do that?" He replies sarcastically.

"I'll untie you, but you have to promise to leave the others alone."

"Fine, but I'm not staying here." Naruto sighs in defeat.

"Whatever. I have a friend who might let you stay at her house. Hopefully." She goes up to him and begins to undo the rather tight knots Tobi had created.

When he is finally free of his bonds, he looks down at his silver-haired superior. "I know you're awake, Kakashi-sensei."

"No, I'm not. You're imagining things."

"Just leave him. He apparently doesn't want to use the computer to read his porn." Chelsea smirks when he twitches ever so slightly.

He opens his eye and looks the girl up and down before speaking. "What is your name?"

"Chelsea Brown."

"I heard something about a friend, Chelsea?"

"Yeah, her name is Christina. We don't have enough room for all eight of you, so I'm going to ask her if she will take you guys. The Akatsuki have already decided to stay here." She summarizes.

"Not to worry. I'll stay here in this couch, if need be." He waves his hand and gives her an eye crinkle that suggests a smile.

She smiles back. "The biggest problem with that plan is privacy. Then there's the fact that Naruto wants the Akatsuki dead. It's best if you don't stay here. You could come visit, if you wanted."

Naruto scoffs and stands to go explore the house. He walks to the door connected to the living room and throws it open. He pauses when he sees Itachi, sitting on the far bed, reading. He then turns to his left and freezes, eyes wide. Kisame is grinning ear-to-ear at the young boy. The shark is just a freaky when lounging on a bed.

Naruto proceeds to slowly back out of the room, closing the door behind him. He turns to Chelsea with a scowl. "Why didn't you warn me not to go in there? And why is Itachi here? I thought he was dead."

"Maybe he is dead, and I didn't warn you about Kisame because I thought it would be funny to see your reaction." She replies, smirking.

"So, you're saying that we're all dead? I must be in hell." Naruto runs his hands through his hair, exasperated.

"She's just messing with you, Naruto. Don't freak out about it." Kakashi states calmly.

"Uhm…I'm going to call Chris and let her know what's going on. See if you can wake up the other two. Sakura is in there." She points to the closed door and grabs the house phone before going out onto the porch. Leaning on the rail with a sigh, she dials her friends' number.

Christina pauses her movie and reaches across the table to grab her cell phone. She barely has to look at the caller i.d. to know who it is. "Hey, Chels. I'm in the middle of a movie. Can I call y—" She pauses as Chelsea quickly summarizes the situation at hand.

"Holy…Are you serious? Yeah, of course I'll keep them here with me. There's plenty of room." She jumps up from the couch, turns off the tv, and heads down the stairs without a pause. "Mhmm. Ok, I'll be there in ten/fifteen minutes, tops. See ya soon. Bai!"

Chelsea hangs up with a slight smirk. "She has no idea what she just got herself into."

"What did you just do?"

Chelsea jumps and spins to face the voice behind her. "Shit, Sam! You nearly gave me a heart attack. What do you mean?"

The blonde raises a brow. "At the rate this is going, the whole world will know about them by the end of the week."

"What are you talking about? Only four of us know about them." Chelsea walks to the door. "I have to let the Leaf know what's going on. Trust me. The whole world won't find out about them."

"We'll find out sooner or later." Sam replies, with a shrug.

Chelsea smiles and heads inside. She walks into the guest room. The Leaf-nin are talking quietly to each other. "It's not polite to whisper, you know."

Sakura stands and offers her hand. "Hello, my name is Haruno Saku—"

"I know who you are. My name's Chelsea and I'm not one to shake hands." The brunette states in a flat voice. Sakura allows her arm to fall back to her side and frowns.

"How do you know who I am?"

Chelsea sighs audibly and rolls her eyes. "If this were your world, I would know you only by your name and reputation as a medic-nin. In my world, I know everything about all of you, because you're characters in a manga series. Don't believe me? I'll prove it to you." She walks to a bookshelf filled with manga and picks up a book. She tosses it to Kakashi and grins. "Here, ever wondered exactly what happened in the battle with Sasori? Read that and you'll find out. In my opinion, Chiyo should have the credit for defeating him, and not Sakura." She grins at the pink-haired girl and waves innocently.

Sakura glares at her. Choji looks up from the book in the copy-nin's hands and walks toward the shelf. "Is everything in these books?" He glances as the girl next to him. "Even…"

The brunette's eyes widen and her mouth forms a small O. She places a hand on the shoulder. "Yeah, even that. You can read them, as long as I get them all back."

"Thanks." Choji smiles at her.

_Knock, knock, knock._

"That must be Chris. I'll be right back." She grabs a duffel bag from the closet and hands it to Choji. "You can put the books in there."

Naruto saunters after the short girl into the laundry room. Chelsea opens the door and is greeted by a half-gasp, half-squeal. "Oh. My. God." Christina's eyes scan Naruto's face and then she grins. "This is the best day of my life. Have I died?" Her gaze turns to the smirking brunette.

"I thought the same thing. It's pretty awesome."

Naruto grins. "I know I'm awesome, but you don't—"

Christina laughs. "Not you. The fact that all of you are here is awesome. It proves that your world is real." She pats him on the head. "Don't worry. I know at least one person who loves you. Even though you really can't do anything about it now."

Naruto frowns and tilts his head in confusion. "What?" He follows the girls into the hall. He grabs Christina's hand and tugs lightly.

She turns and faces him with a glare. "What do you want?"

He looks down and realizes that he's still holding her hand. A light blush powders his cheeks. "I…I don't remember now."

She shakes her head and follows Chelsea into the guest room, with Naruto's hand in tow. She spots Choji first and watches him carefully put manga into a duffel bag. Chelsea has crouched down next to him, showing him how to properly read the books.

She smiles and turns toward the bed to see Sakura and… "Kakashi!" Christina squeals in delight and quickly covers her mouth, eyes wide.

The copy-nin raises a brow in amusement. Chelsea snorts and stands up. "Didn't I tell you who was here?"

"No, you only said that eight Naruto characters were here and that you needed me to take four of them. I figured they would all be Akatsuki, but this is just as good. Although, I would've preferred the pair."

"Four of them are Akatsuki. I still don't know why they were all together, though. And you know he wouldn't be here, seeing as he's been dead for a while."

Christina sighs audibly. "Yeah, I can still hope though."

The brunette laughs. "Isn't that the truth?"

"I guess I'd better get going, so I can get dinner ready. I'll have to go to the store, since I usually only have enough for one person."

"Ok. Call me if you've got any problems with them. I'll gladly help you out." The brunette turns to the others in the room and claps her hands together, with a grin. "You guys are going with Christina to stay at her house. I expect all of you to treat her with respect, if you want her to be any degree of nice towards you."

Kakashi walks up to Christina and holds out his hand. "I'm glad to meet you and thanks for the hospitality. I'm sure that you won't have to worry about these three."

Christina takes his hand in hers and gives it a firm shake. "You're very welcome. I'm glad to have met you, as well." She grins at him and then turns to Chelsea. The two girls hug and say their 'good-byes' before Christina leads the Konoha-nin out to her car.

Chelsea smiles softly and heads into her room to work on some papers for work.


	4. Chapter 3

**I am so so so so so sorry for not updating until now. I've been distracted and I got writer's block a few times as well. This chapter is shorter than the others due to the writer's block. Again, I'm sorry for not updating. Don't think I forgot about any of you. I love you all for reading my story and for staying faithful if you have. I hope you don't hate me for taking so long. I promise to update more. Chapter 4 is in the making and should be up within the next week to a month. If not then send me whatever reviews you think will motivate me to work on it. I hope you enjoy this chapter(i enjoyed writing it) and as I always ask. Please Please Please review and tell me what you think of it. I love all of you devoted readers so much. Enjoy.**

**

* * *

Chapter 3:**

As the door closes, Jess looks at Deidara and smiles back, happy but a little confused. "What?"

"Nothing." She replies and leans back with her head on his chest.

He sighs and crosses his arms over her stomach. "This will take a while to get used to, yeah." He looks down and gives her a lopsided smirk.

"I'm already used to it." She pauses before speaking again. "I heard Sam calling just now. We better go before she send someone in here." With that she stands, pulling him with her. They head straight for the smaller couch and sit with Jessica on his lap.

Kisame is lounging on the larger couch with his feet on the table, half-asleep. Or so it seems. He opens one eye and grins at them. Jessica gives him a questioning look. "Why are you grinning like that? It's odd."

"No reason. I just know." His grins widens to show a row of pointed teeth.

"What do you know, hmm?"

The large man chuckles. "A lot more than you'd be comfortable with me knowing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jessica gives him a flat stare.

Kisame shrugs and closes his eyes. By now, Jessica is a little irritated with no way to calm down. She turns to Deidara with a grin. She moves to kiss him when a face appears between the two.

"I wouldn't do that in here, if I were you." Sam states. She moves over to stand next to the Uchiha, by the window. "Itachi, stop admiring the scenery long enough to hear what I have to say." She places her hands on his shoulders and turns him to face the room. Strangely enough, he doesn't resist.

"Did you really just do that?"

Chelsea walks into the room, closely followed by a bouncing Tobi.

"I'm not afraid of him here. He's a normal person. No chakra and no Sharingan.

"Whatever." Chelsea moves to sit next to Jessica before realizing whose lap she was in. Instead, she turns to Kisame. "Ok, Kisa-kun. Move over so we can sit down."

He opens his eyes and glares at her. "Don't call me that, Princess."

She glares back with the same intensity, if not more. "I'll call you whatever the hell I want. Now move."

He gives a sarcastic HA. "You're funny. No."

"Fine then." She grabs Tobi's hand and moves him to sit on Kisame's legs, which disappear from the spot rather quickly. She sits in his lap with her arms around Tobi's neck.

Deidara cocks a brow at the position. "So..."

She looks at him, confused. "So what?"

"Why's your hair so ruffled, hmm? To much fun with candy man?" He answers with a smirk.

"I could ask you two the same thing." Chelsea retorts with a grin.

"We haven't..."

She interrupts him, "Yet."

"Hey!" Sam shouts over their bickering. "I have a reason for keeping you in the same room."

"Listen to her."

The group falls silent at the statement. Kisame looks up. "Wow, Itachi. You spoke. To help her. Weird."

"Whatever. I've decided that since you will be staying here, there are some things to be done."

"Like chores?"

"That's right, Tobi. I have a list of what you need to do." She brandishes a paper. "Deidara, you get to pick up the hall and living rooms. That includes vacuuming."

"What? I don't even know how to use a fucking vacuum." He grumbles.

"We can teach you then."

Deidara huffs and looks away.

"Dumbass." Chelsea mumbles. Thankfully, he didn't hear the comment.

"Kisame, you get to keep the property clean. Which means, you have dirty work. Jess can help you."

"Why can't I help Deidara?!" Jessica exclaims.

"Because you won't work, that's why. As I was saying before I got rudely interrupted. Itachi, you have kitchen duty. Chelsea will help you with that. I'll help Tobi with the dusting to make sure nothing gets broken." She pauses to glance at a now pouting Chelsea. "Does this work for everyone?"

"Tobi likes it. It's nice to be useful sometimes."

Chelsea immediately cheers up and hugs him. "That's great, Tobi! You can help keep our room clean, as well. I'll show you where to put everything." She moves to stand when Sam begins speaking again.

"There's one more thing we need to discuss. Clothing. I don't really think you would want to go out in those bulky cloaks."

"Why not, hmm? I think it looks fine. If we go anywhere while wearing them, people will leave us alone." Deidara points out.

"Maybe in your world. Akatsuki doesn't exist in our world. Besides, people here would just laugh, anyway. Either way, you still need clothes. I've decided to take you into town tomorrow."

"To where? Wal-Mart?" Chelsea snorts. "That'll be interesting."

"That's exactly what I was thinking. Start with Placerville and about two weeks from now, we'll go to the Roseville/Folsom area."

"Sounds good to me." Kisame states lazily.

"Everything sounds good to you. Lazy ass."

"One more thing. We need to make you guys less recognizable. Just in case we run into any other Naruto freaks."

Jess immediately perks up. "I get to play with their hair. That'll be fun."

"So are we going tomorrow?" Chelsea asks.

"Yeah, I need you to find them clothes they can wear."

"I'll start on their hair now. Deidara, you're first." Jess says, grinning.

Sam stops her. "You do it in here or in the bathroom with the door open. Got it?"

She receives a glare from her older friend. "Fine."

Chelsea smirks at Jessica's back before turning to Tobi. "All you need to do is take your ask off and keep it off." She finishes sternly.

"But...Chelsea-chan promised..." He trails off mid-sentence.

"No, I didn't. I promised not to tell them. I never said a thing about you showing them."

"Tobi won't do it." He crosses his arms in an act of defiance.

"I'll take it off for you if you don't."

"That's not fair." He huffs and reaches up to remove the mask from his face.

At this point, everyone has their eyes on Tobi. Even Jessica and Deidara are watching from the bathroom.

"You're a boy!"

Chelsea turns to Kisame. "Very good. When did you figure that out?" She grins, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

The large man glares at her. "I meant that he's no older than a teenager. How old are you?" He directs the question at Tobi.

"Tobi's nineteen."

"Wow. Hey, Blondie! You hear that? He's two years younger than you." Kisame chuckles and turns to Itachi. "What's your opinion of him?"

Itachi looks at the boy and a faint smirk appears on his face. "He's been through a lot." He then walks into the bedroom and closes the door.

Silence follows.

Sam coughs. "I think he looks cute."

Five reactions.

Kisame chokes.

Tobi blushes.

Deidara laughs.

Chelsea snorts.

Jessica drops something.

"Amazing what five words can do." Sam rolls her eyes. "What I meant was that he has the face of a kid."

"Sure." Kisame manages to cough out.

"You're an asshole." She retorts.

"Proud of it, too." He throws his arms out with a grin on his face.

Chelsea throws a pillow at him. He catches and tosses it back. She dodges and pauses, staring at him.

He cocks a brow. "What?"

Her eyes meet his and she has a puzzled expression. "Your skin color is fading. The blue is less noticeable."

He studies his arm and sighs. "Great. This world is slowly killing me."

"I'll be right back." She stands.

"Where are you going?" Sam gives her a quizzical look.

"I need to check something." She walks into Kisame and Itachi's room. She goes right up to the Uchiha and waits.

He looks up from his book to stare back at her.

"Um...Does your Sharingan work?" She blurts out.

He doesn't answer immediately and when he does it's barely a whisper. "No, it does not." He then goes back to reading his book.

"Thanks." She replies just as quietly as she leaves the room.

"What now?" Sam asks, ans is unheard as Chelsea continues to the bathroom.

She stops behind Deidara's line of vision. He turns slightly and jumps when he sees her standing there. "What the hell? Are you trying to kill me?"

Rather than retort, she points at his hand. "I need to look at your palms."

"Is this some kind of joke?" When she doesn't answer, he continues. "Why should I, hmm?"

"Just do it, Deidara. It won't hurt you." Jessica slaps him on the back of his head.

"And if it does?"

"Then you can blame me for it."

"Fine." His lifts his hands so Chelsea can see them.

She gasps loudly, causing him to pull back in surprise. "Look at your hands, Deidara. There's something...different. Unexpected, if you want to call it that." She urges turning his hand so he can see for himself.

"What the fuck! Where are my mouths?!" He turns to Chelsea, eyes filled with rage. "What is this? Do you think it's funny, hmm?" He shouts.

Unfortunately for him, she doesn't shrink back from conflict. She retaliates, still irritated from their last conversation. "Who do you think you are? Yelling at me like that. Shut the hell up already! You're so fucking annoying. I don't know how anyone can stand your presence for more than a few minutes. I'm not sure how you got here, nor do I care one bit. You're here and there's nothing any of us can do about it. I don't like you and you don't like me. That's great but it doesn't give you the right to blame me for everything that goes wrong."

"Chels..." Jess begins, but is cut off. No one heard her.

"Your kekkai-genkai doesn't matter in our world. There's no one here that you would need to do more than hit a couple times to win a fight. So, there is no reason to get mad at me for them being gone.I'm tired of it and you haven't even been here for a full day yet. Shape up or I'm fucking kicking lyou out of here. Got it?" She finishes quickly and stalks into her bedroom.

At this point, everyone in the living room are now watching from the kitchen. Kisame claps loudly, startling the others and breaking the silence. "Nice job, Blondie. You managed to piss someone off on the first day. I think that's a record for you." He smirks at the blond and turns to follow the brunette.

"Wait for Tobi!" The boy shouts, still maskless, and follows after the large man. He runs into him and falls to the floor. Rubbing his head, he stands, "Why did you stop, Kisame-senpai?" He squeezes between him and the desk and stops.

Kisame walks over to the bed and sits next to Chelsea. "What's wrong, Princess? Want me to kick his ass?" He grins when she gives a small, shaky laugh.

She looks up as a solitary tear falls down her face. Tobi moves forward and gives her a big hug. "Don't cry, Chelsea-chan. Tobi wonders what's wrong?" She smiles at him and takes a deep breath.

"Yeah, I'll tell you both but I don't want Deidara to hear." She glances at the blonde girl. Sam nods and closes the door, understanding what she was about to say.

"Ok." She sits up and Tobi sits in front of her, on the floor. "You know how I seem to hate Deidara? I don't. There's a reason for the way I act toward him." She pauses and looks at Kisame. He smiles and puts his arms around her shoulders. She leans on him and continues. "I had a friend a while back. His name is Gabriel. He was arrogant, stupid, funny, entertaining. He was the greatest friend a person could have. He left after finishing school, promising he would keep in touch. That he would visit as often as he could. But he just didn't. Never called, never visited, never even wrote. It pissed me off. I was upset. I know I shouldn't take it out on Deidara, but he's just so much like Gabriel. It's hard to remember that he's not."

Right as she finishes speaking, the door slams open and is followed by a growl.

* * *

**Chapter 4:**

"Ohmygod. Shit. I'm going to hide behind you, Kisame." Chelsea moves behind the tall man, as she quietly freaks out.

"Um...Ok. Why?"

"Because HE is here. I don't want him to see me."


	5. Chapter 4

**There are four things I have to say before you read this chapter. **

**One: I've decided that I won't have an excerpt for the next chapter at the end of each chapter. Mainly because I can't always predict how the chapter will end up. This particular chapter turned out completely different from how I originally had planned it.**

**Two: I am completely and utterly sorry for not updating sooner than now. At one point I was distracted, at another I had Writers' Block, and at yet another I didn't have a computer available to me. I am going to try my hardest to get Chapter 5 up as soon as I can. I'm not promising to update weekly or monthly or anything of the sort, because, as you have noticed, I suck at deadlines. **

**Three: I recently noticed that I forgot to put in the part where Christina takes the Leaf nin. I am now working on adding that part to the end of Chapter 2. Meaning, that the beginning of Chapter 3 will be slightly altered. I will post on my profile when I have made the changes so you can go back and read it if you would like.**

**Four: If anyone has made any fanart for the story so far, I would be happy to put it up on my page if you send me the link for it. I don't know if any of you are artists but anything would be welcome. Being a newer writer and all, I'm not sure what you would be able to draw based on the few chapters I have. Also, if you notice any mistakes that I've made, I will gladly fix them if you let me know what they are. I hope you like this chapter a lot. Comments make me very happy~**

**Chapter 4:**

"You're such an asshole!" Chelsea screams.

She's standing on the front porch with Kisame and Tobi next to her. Deidara and Jessica are facing her.

"It's not my fault you're so loud!" He shouts back.

"You still didn't have to tell her about it. I wanted her to be happy, even if I'm not. She never had to know." Tears slowly begin to form in her eyes. Tobi hugs her from behind and glares at the blond man.

"It's not nice to make girls cry, Deidara. Tobi thinks you should apologize to her."

"I'm not going to, yeah. She started it anyway." Deidara grunts.

"Wow. You're being more childish than Tobi on a good day. I can see that you don't care much about others." Sam states calmly from a chair on the other side of the small porch. She looks at Jessica. "I don't know what you see in him."

Kisame and Chelsea laugh. The tall man looks at her. "You ok, Princess?"

Ignoring the unwanted nickname, she nods once. "We need to get ready for our trip today. Your clothes are on your beds." She smiles at the two men with her and turns to go inside.

"What about me, hmm?" Deidara asks, exasperated.

She stops at the door and faces him, grinning. "What about you, hmm?" She takes Tobi's hand and walks into the house.

"I'll help you find clothes." Jess moves to stand in front of him. "Forget about it and she'll do the same."

He scoffs. "Fat chance. She hates me. I'll stay here, away from other people, yeah."

"No, you're not. I'm not about to let you stay here alone." Sam stands. "Let's go in and get ready so ALL of us can leave." They go inside to their separate rooms to change.

* * *

Kisame is, once again, lounging on the couch. "It's been half an hour. Are you ready to go yet?"

Sam glares and continues putting on her make-up. "I'll be ready when I'm ready. Don't rush me or we'll never leave."

"The sooner we leave, the sooner I can get out of these clothes." He grunts.

"Well, too bad. You're stuck with this kind of clothing. You can wear your cloak when it's cold, but not now."

"I don't even care about the cloak. It's these damn clothes you gave me. They're disgusting." He gestures at his plaid shirt and blue jeans.

"You look fine, Kisame. Stop fussing." Chelsea looks up from a stack of papers on the kitchen counter.

"What are you talking about? I'm not fussing about anything." He gives the girl a flat stare.

"Oh, yes you are. You sound like a girl." She smiles and continues writing.

"Ta-da!" Jessica's voice sounds from her doorway. The trio turns to see the cause of her excitement. Chelsea's gaze meets Deidara's and she grabs the papers and her purse.

"I'll wait for you guys in the car."

"What's her problem, hmm?" Deidara scoffs.

Kisame rolls his eyes. "If only we knew."

"What do you think of his outfit?" Jessica chirps happily.

"I really don't care. I just want to get this done and over with."

"Shut up or I'll take even longer." Sam throws a tube of mascara at him. He catches it with ease.

"Fine, but I'm about ready to go outside, too."

"No one's stopping, you, yeah." Deidara gestures toward the door.

Kisame pauses to consider the blond's words. "On the other hand…I think I'll stay here." He retorts with a smirk as he stands.

"Asshole."

"Mind sharing with the group? We'd love to hear what you have to say." Kisame cracks open his door and looks into the room. "We're just about ready, Itachi. Let's head out."

As the pair passes Deidara and Jessica, Kisame winks at the blond. "Nice look. Makes you more feminine." He chuckles as the artist glares at him.

Honestly, Kisame's comment was true. He's wearing a black, nearly skin-tight tank top and black skinny jeans. His hair is pulled back into a low ponytail, excluding the part over the left side of his face.

Oddly enough, although not expected, no one had commented on Itachi's attire. The outfit was chosen solely on his own. It consists of a grey shirt with a silvery cobweb pattern and dark blue jeans. He is still wearing his necklace and now has a spiked bracelet around his wrist. Chelsea added a chain wallet, with some money in it, to complete the look. She had actually spent ten minutes begging him to let her brush his hair.

After finally getting him to agree, she spent another ten minutes brushing and playing before deciding he looked best with it down.

Yet, there is always some reaction. In this case, it's a very excited Tobi telling him he looks really good. Which , as usual, is answered with silence from the Uchiha.

"Ok, guys. We need to get going if we want the whole day to do shit." Jessica shouts as she walks out the door, dragging Deidara by the arm.

Once everyone is outside, Chelsea begins telling them the seating arrangements in the SUV. "I'm only going to say it once, so listen up. Jess is driving and Itachi is next to her in the passenger seat. In the middle, from left to right, are Sam, Deidara, and myself. Tobi and Kisame are in the back. No arguing with me because I'm not changing it. We'll be like this whenever we go out." She grins when she sees the scowl on Deidara's face.

"Load up, guys."

* * *

"What should we order?"

I don't know, Chels. Maybe just burgers and fries?" Jess replies, scanning the menu.

Sam looks up from her menu to observe the "Akatsuki" around them. She laughs at the blond next to her. "What's wrong with you, Deidara? Paranoid much?"

He turns to face her, scowling. "So what if I am, hmm?"

"It's just funny to watch. I've got no problem with it."

"Whatever."

"When do we get our food? I'm fucking starving." Kisame groans from Sam's right.

"We'll eat in a bit. We need to order the food first." Chelsea shakes her head in annoyance as the waitress walks up to the booth. Jessica quickly orders the food. No more than ten minutes passes before the food is brought to them.

Sam leans over Deidara to whisper in Jessica's ear. "I wonder how they're going to react." Jessica giggles in response.

Chelsea raises a brow as Kisame begins picking apart his burger. She decides to just sit and wait to see what will happen. He pauses, pulls out a pickle and eats it. His reaction could be either a look of disgust or simply a frown. "That's disgusting. How could anyone eat that?" He proceeds to take the remaining pickles out and fixes the burger so he can eat it.

Tobi grins and reaches over to take the pickles. "Tobi will eat them. They're yummy."

"What's wrong with you? How could you NOT like pickels?1" Sam exclaims, a bit louder than necessary.

"I just don't. They're horrible." Kisame responds with a glare. The pair continues to argue as the attention turns to Deidara.

The blond pokes the bun and grimaces when it goes back to its' original shape. "I'm not eating this, yeah. Is it supposed to do that?"

"Yes, it's supposed to do that. It's called bread. Now, just eat it." Jessica tells him with a laugh.

"How do I know it's good?"

"Look around. The others are eating it and so am I. Which means that it must be good."

"If it kills me, I'm blaming out , yeah." He picks up the burger and takes a bite.

"So…" Jessica prompts.

He pauses to think before replying. "It's not amazing, but I'll eat it."

"good, because as soon as you're all done, we're getting milkshakes." Chelsea looks at Sam with a grin.

Twenty minutes later, after many more questions and complaints, everyone now has a milkshake.

Chelsea leans forward to look past Tobi, who is sucking down his milkshake with no consequences, to watch Itachi.

In truth, all three girls are watching the Uchiha. He is staring at the drink, shaking his head and mouthing "no".

"Just drink the damn thing before it gets warm, Itachi." Jessica announces loudly enough for him to hear. He looks up with a slight glare and takes a small sip of the strawberry shake.

Satisfied, Jessica continues drinking her own vanilla shake and turns so her back is against Deidara's arm. He visibly stiffens at the contact before talking a drink of his vanilla shake. Another ten minutes passed before everyone is finished. Sam pays the bill and the group piles back into the car.

Jess turns around in her seat and glares at the three Akatsuki in the back. "Ok. It is only going to take us about five minutes to get to Wal-Mart. I don't want to hear one word that will cause any arguing. The first person to start anything is getting double chores. That goes for you too, Deidara."

Kisame laughs quietly and Deidara turns to scowl at him. "What, hmm?" The shark opens his mouth to respond, but closes it when he catches Jessica's eye. He instead lounges back in his seat and closes his eyes.

"Good. Now let's go." Jess starts the car and starts driving toward the store.

Chelsea leans forward and rests her chin on the back of the passenger seat. "Can I ask you a question, Itachi?" He glances at her and gives a slight nod before looking back out the front window. "When we get home tonight, I'd like you to tell me what you think of our world. Will you do that?" Even without seeing his face, she can sense the genuine smirk he rarely gives.

"I suppose I could do that. Though, I have a few questions for you, as well." A look of confusion passes through Chelsea's eyes before being replaced with anticipation.

"Fair enough."

The rest of the car ride passes mostly in silence. Jessica parks the car in a spot close to the front of the store. With a warning to not draw attention to themselves, Sam leads the oddest group of people into Wal-Mart.

"First order of business is clothing…" Sam notices Jessica's eyes light up. "…for the guys."

With an audible sigh, the tall girl leads the others to the men's department.

Chelsea leads Kisame to a section she thinks he might like. Kisame, too absorbed in his surroundings, walks into the brunette. He looks down at her, puzzled. "Why'd you stop?"

She turns to face him and nearly whispers. "That's Gabriel."

His eyes narrow dangerously. "That kid who fucked you over?"

"Yeah, you could say that. I don't know why he's here though."

"I'll talk to him if you -" he begins.

"Chels! You gotta see this shirt." Jessica comes up to the pair. She raises a brow at how close they are to each other. "You two look pretty homey."

Chelsea gives her an exasperated look and groans. "Now he knows we're here. Great." She turns around to face the last person she ever wanted to see.

Jessica looks too and gasps loudly. "What the hell?"

His appearance hasn't changed much at all. His hair is nearly an inch long and its natural brown. He's rather lean and about 5' 11". Gabriel gives a wave and a small smile. "Hey." He takes a few steps closer at the same time that Kisame moves to stand in front of Chelsea.

"Back off, buddy." Kisame growls.

Gabriel looks at Jessica. "Who is this guy? Is he Chels' boyfriend or something?"

"More like a really protective friend. Why do you care anyway? You haven't made contact in over a year."

"What?1 I haven't…? You're the ones who haven't made contact. I was told you moved halfway across the country!" He responds angrily.

"Who the hell told you that?" Chelsea speaks up as she walks from behind Kisame and stops in front of Gabriel.

"Your mom. Who else would say something like that?" He looks down at her and shrugs.

She sighs. "You know not to believe her unless we told you the same thing. Oh well. She doesn't live on the property anymore, so we've go the place to ourselves…" She trails off.

"Are you forgetting about someone?" Jessica points to the tall man, standing awkwardly a few feet away.

"Oh, right. This may sound crazy at first but I need you to be flexible. Gabriel, this is Kisame." Chelsea states with a grin. "Jess, can you go find the others? I think it would be best for him to see everyone to prove it's really them."

"Sure. I'll be right back." Jessica runs off.

"Wait a sec. That doesn't make any sense. Kisame is a fictional character. This guy can't be him." Gabriel struggles with himself as he tries to understand the simple statement Chelsea had given him.

"We thought so too until we found them. Do you remember the tree farm along the ditch? We stumbled upon them in one of the clearings."

"Found them? If it's really them then how did they get here? There's no way that they could have come here on purpose. Although, I haven't read the manga in a long time, so I wouldn't know either way."

"That's a good question." Chelsea turns to Kisame. "How did you get here?"

Kisame shrugs. "Hell if I know. We were on a mission to retrieve a forbidden jutsu. The last thing I remember is a flash of light and then waking up in that clearing. Itachi is probably the best one to ask about it. He's the only one who knows what the jutsu does."

Chelsea thinks about his words for a minute. "Hmm. I'm guessing it was probably a dimension teleportation jutsu. The biggest issue is that I don't think there are any scrolls like that here, or even a jutsu scroll at all. As far as I can tell, you guys are stuck here for now."

"Oh joy." Kisame remarks.

Gabriel, still trying to make sense of the situation, looks up at the sound of footsteps. "Jessica is back with some people."

"Look closely at those people. You're recognize two of them almost instantly. The other is Tobi without his mask." Chelsea says.

The short-haired boy's eyes widen. "Itachi and Deidara? Really? Wow. I guess you are telling the truth."

Sam comes up to him and punches him in the arm. "I can't believe you. I hope you know these two have hated you for the longest time."

Rubbing his arm, Gabriel backs up a step. "It's not my fault. I didn't know they hadn't moved or I would have visited sometime."

"I don't care either way. You better hope they forgive you at all."

"Uhm…I already have. We all know he's a bit gullible so I can't blame him for believing her." Chelsea points out quietly before rounding on the boy next to her. "Although, I would like a hug after not seeing you for over a year. You are my best friend you know."

She watches him waiting for some kind of response. Instead of answering with words, he picks her up around the waist and gives her the biggest hug ever. She giggles and hugs him back with just as much enthusiasm. Once he sets her down, she reaches up and kisses him on the cheek. "Love you, asshole."

He grins and ruffles her hair. "Love you too, Shorty."

She shoves him playfully and turns to face the rest of the group. "Ok. Now we can find everyone clothes."

"Tobi wonders why you said that. Do you really love each other?" Tobi asks from next to Jessica.

Sam laughs. "Yes, they do love each other, but not in the way you're thinking. They've been best friends for a few years now. They're practically brother and sister."

"So what do we do now, hmm?" Deidara crosses his arms, obviously bored.

"We shop. Since there's an equal amount of people now we can split into pairs. I'll go with Itachi. Jessica you take Tobi. Chelsea you can stay with Kisame, and Gabriel can go with Deidara. We'll let them get acquainted."

"No way. I am not going with him."

"And what's so bad about me? I haven't done anything to you." Gabriel asks the blond.

Deidara opens his mouth to tell him "exactly what is wrong with him" but Jessica covers his mouth with her hand. "Don't even think about it. You will get along with him, whether you like it or not. I don't care what you think of him because we're going to erase those thoughts and start on a new slate. Just try to be friends with him. You two have a lot in common. Trust me." She shoves him toward Gabriel with a grin and walks away. "Come on, Tobi!"

"Coming Jessica-chan!" Tobi shouts and runs after her.

Sam waves as she and Itachi turn and walk off in another direction.

"Ok. I'll see you in a bit then. This is where we need to be so….yeah." Chelsea smiles and gestures for the two boys to walk away.

Gabriel nods and walks in the direction of clothing that would suit Deidara. "So what exactly did they tell you about me? I'd like to hear your opinion of me."

Deidara glares. "They didn't tell me anything, yeah. I overheard Chelsea telling Fish Face and Tobi about her reason for disliking me. She said that I'm a lot like you and seeing as you haven't talked to them for a long time, she grew to be really mad at you. So she automatically disliked me for the reason that we're so much alike. I don't see it though."

Gabriel stops at a rack of shirts and turns to face the blond. "I do. From what I can tell, you're an arrogant asshole who doesn't seem to care about someone else's opinion. That's how I am. Or at least was. I'm not as bad as I was in school. If I was mad, I would take it out on myself, mentally or physically."

He pulls out a few shirts for Deidara to look at. The blond, who's mind is whirring with the other boys words, looks at the shirts with interest. "These are cool, yeah. What made you think I'd like them?"

"I figured we would have the same taste in clothing so I just grabbed some that I like. From what I can tell you wear the same size as me so it'll be easy finding other stuff that will fit."

Deidara looks at him with interest. "Maybe you're not so bad after all."

Gabriel chuckles. "Took you long enough. Now let's go find you some pants to go with those."

* * *

A couple hours later, everyone is back at the front of the store with their new clothes. From what the girls can tell, Gabriel and Deidara formed some sort of bond. It looked like they were having an in-depth discussion about the Naruto series.

"Whatever works is fine with me. As long as they're not trying to kill each other, I don't care." Sam shakes her head.

"Gabriel! Deidara! Get your asses over here!" Jessica shouts at the two boys, with no success. She stalks over to them and drags them back to the group.

"We were having a discussion, you know." Gabriel points out.

"I don't care. We need to leave. Are you coming back to the house with us or not?"

"Uhm…If it's ok with you guys then sure. I'll go with you, but I don't have a place to stay."

Chelsea pokes him in the chest. "We have an extra room if you want to stay with us. I've got no problem with it."

Gabriel perks up considerably. "Really? What about the others?"

"They will have to deal either way. It's my house so I have the say. You can stay." Chelsea grins up at him.

Deidara coughs. "If it's ok, could I go with him?" He spots a smirking Kisame and continues. "We need to finish out conversation, yeah."

"Sure. Go ahead." Jessica smiles. "ok. So we'll meet you at the house. See you in a bit."

Jessica walks to the SUV with all but Deidara following her. Gabriel heads over to his car and Deidara climbs into the passenger seat. "So what exactly is Akatsuki's reason for capturing the bijuu?"

Deidara grins at Gabriel's answer and begins a long explanation about the leader of Akatsuki, Pein.

* * *

**So yeah. I do believe this is my favorite chapter so far. :D Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.**


	6. Chapter 5

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I'm SO sorry that it took me so long to post this chapter. I've been stuck with the worst Writer's Block lately. I hope you guys don't hate me too much. Reviews make me squee with joy~ I love you all very much!

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Chapter 5:

Jessica turns off the car and climbs out. "Don't forget to grab your stuff. Once I lock the car, you're out of luck." She walks to the front door and opens it. As everyone files into the house, she realizes a couple of people are missing. "Sam, where are Deidara and Gabriel? Weren't they right behind us?"

"Yeah, they were. They should be here in a minute." The blonde girl walks past and addresses Chelsea. "Stop looking so worried. I'm sure they're fine. Now get inside before I push you in."

Chelsea smiles at the threat. "Okey dokey." She walks into the kitchen and sits crossed-legged on the counter. "What should we have for dinner, Jess? I was thinking we should just get pizza. It's the easiest thing to make for a pack of wolves."

"We're not wolves, girlie." Kisame calls from his normal spot on the couch.

"Yeah, you are. Although, you seem to have taken to being lazy, which tells me that you shouldn't get dinner tonight."

Jessica leans against the fridge, frowning. "Pizza sounds fine. Could you go buy some?"

"Sure, but I want to wait for Gabriel and Deidara to get here."

"Isn't that sweet?" Sam grins at the brunette.

Chelsea glares. "I'm waiting because I don't know if Gabriel is staying for dinner or not. You both know how much he eats." She looks at the other two girls with a smirk.

The sound of the front door closing is followed by Gabriel and Deidara entering the kitchen. Gabriel ruffles Chelsea's hair. "I should take that as an insult." He sits on one of the bar stools and spins to face her. Deidara walks into the living room and sits on the small couch. "So, why were you talking about my eating habits?"

"We were trying to figure out if you're staying for dinner. If you are, I have to get an extra pizza." Chelsea smiles at him and winks. A puzzled look crosses his face. Only Sam notices the small gesture.

Sam coughs loudly. "So, are you staying or not?"

Gabriel shakes his head slowly. "Blunt as ever, Sam. Yeah, I'm staying. Chels invited me so I might as well take up the offer."

"Okay, but I have the guest room, so you get the couch."

"Fine with me."

Jessica glances at her friend, then looks at Gabriel. "Hey, Gabe. You should go with Chelsea to the store and help her pick food for dinner."

Chelsea frowns at her and jumps down from the counter. She stands in front of Gabriel, with her hands on his knees, and grins. "Why not? I won't bite and we can catch up without six extra sets of ears listening to our conversation."

The boy smirks and stands up. "Okay, I'll go."

* * *

"What kind should we get? I vote for Hawaiian. It's my favorite." Chelsea looks up at Gabriel. "You can pick the other two." She sets the box in the cart.

Gabriel frowns at the shelves of pizza. He makes a decision and reaches forward to grab two boxes. "Meat Lovers and Supreme."

The brunette nods. "Variety is good." She pushes the cart down the aisle.

"What else are we getting?"

"Salad, for sure. Maybe dessert. We need more soda, too." Chelsea steers into the drink aisle and looks through the sodas. "So, what happened with the Air Force? Did you make it in?"

Gabriel hesitates. "Not exactly. I barely made it halfway through training."

Chelsea faces him and quirks a brow. "What did you do?"

"It wasn't a bad thing. I just screwed up a little bit." He turns and is suddenly engrossed in the nutrition facts on a bottle.

"What happened? I'll try not to be mad at you."

"It was an issue in school, too. You can probably guess what it is."

"I'm not going to guess because you had a lot of problems in school. Tell me what you did." Chelsea looks at him expectantly, on the verge of anger.

Gabriel sighs audibly. "I might have failed a drug test. Don't yell at me. I stopped after that."

The brunette bites her tongue and turns back to the soda. She pulls a few bottles from the shelf, places then in the cart, and walks away without a word.

Gabriel follows her through the store in silence, as she adds food to the cart. They get to the checkout and the cashier gives the boy a knowing look. "Don't worry. It'll get better with time."

"Excuse me?"

"I can see that you had a fight with your girlfriend. She won't be mad at you forever. Just give it time." She smiles at Chelsea and finishes bagging the groceries. "That'll be thirty-six dollars and forty-three cents."

Gabriel opens his mouth as if to say something, then decides against it. He pays and follows Chelsea to the car. "How long are you gonna keep this up? You know how much it bugs me when you won't talk." They climb into the car and head home.

They get back to the house and Chelsea walks inside, leaving Gabriel to carry in the groceries on his own.

"Jess!" He calls and begins pulling the groceries out of the bags as she appears from her room.

"You called?" She asks, arms crossed.

"Yeah, I did. Could you help me put these away? I don't remember where everything goes."

"I dunno. Can I?" She quirks a brow.

Gabriel looks at her and groans. "Come on! What is your problem? I told her I quit. I swear on my life that I'm done. I don't know why you can't trust me." He turns away and starts putting stuff in the fridge.

"Gabe." Jessica prompts and receives only silence for an answer. "Gabriel! Look at me." She grabs his shoulders and turns him to face her. "You know that we trust you. Chelsea trusts you a whole hell of a lot more than you probably deserve. You're her best friend and brother and she adores you. That's why she gets so upset when you do stuff like that. She hates to see you get hurt, especially when you bring it upon yourself."

He backs out of her grip and collapses on the couch. "I told her I quit." He mumbles behind his hands.

"That doesn't make a difference. Saying sorry doesn't cut it anymore. You need to prove to her that you can make good decisions. Let her know you care how she feels." Jessica pats his head and walks into the kitchen.

"Why are you helping me?" Gabriel stands and frowns at her.

She sets the pizza in the oven and looks at him. "I'm doing this for her, not for you. You'd be getting more than a cold shoulder if I were her." She walks into her room, leaving him alone and deep in thought.

He finishes putting away the groceries and then decides to sleep a bit before dinner.

* * *

"I think we should wake him up. He needs to eat some food." Chelsea whispers.

Kisame looks at her, exasperated. "I don't think so. He'll probably eat it all. Wait until everything is gone."

Sam chuckles from a barstool. "Really? And here I thought you wanted the couch back." She shakes her head with a grin. Deidara walks in with a squirt bottle in hand and stands next to the couch, looking down at Gabriel.

"I'll wake him up, yeah." He says with a smug look.

"No, you won't. How old are you, really? That's such a childish move." Sam says with a glare.

Chelsea shakes her head violently. "No way. I think it's a great idea. Help me move the table away so he doesn't get hurt when he wakes up."

Deidara climbs onto the couch behind the one Gabriel is sleeping on. Chelsea and Kisame pull the coffee table towards the television.

"Ok, Dei. On my mark. One." Deidara aims the nozzle.

"Two, three, g…"

"What are you two doing?" Jessica walks in, arms crossed yet again.

Deidara and Chelsea look at her, wide-eyed. They glance nervously at each other and then back at Jessica. "Would you believe me if I said we're getting along?"

Jessica sighs."Amazingly, yes. What else are you up to?"

Deidara opens his mouth to retort at the same time the oven beeps. Only a second later, Tobi rushes in from Chelsea's room. "Tobi wants food first!" The three girls laugh.

"Keep it down. I'm trying to sleep." Gabriel sits up and rubs his eyes. He sets his hands in his lap and looks up, coming face to nozzle with the spray bottle in Deidara's hand. "What're you doing?'

The artist grins and sprays Gabriel in the face. Gabriel sputters and stalks into the kitchen, after Deidara. "I'm gonna kill you." He growls and lunges. Chelsea grabs him by the waist and he stumbles. He looks down at her, glaring. "Let go of me, Chels."

"No." She tightens her grip. "Leave him alone. I'll help you get back at him later." She whispers the last part in his ear.

He stops struggling. "Fine." He replies through gritted teeth.

"Thank you." Chelsea lets go of him and he sits on one of the stools with a scowl.

"I guess I can announce that dinner's ready now." Jessica says with a laugh.

The next half hour passes in silence, Itachi and Chelsea clean up the post-meal mess, and the group separates to different parts of the house.

* * *

The door opens and Itachi steps out onto the porch. He looks over at Chelsea, sitting on the small bench. "Mind if I sit here?" He asks quietly.

Chelsea jumps slightly and looks up at him. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"Mind if I sit here?" He repeats. A small smirk forms on his lips.

The brunette smiles and moves over to make room for him. She pats the space next to her and smiles at him. "Go ahead. You don't have to ask, you know. Just tell me you're sitting down and push me if you need to."

Itachi raises a brow. "That would be rude. I'd rather ask first."

Chelsea laughs lightly. "You're such a gentleman. It's kinda funny because no one would imagine you like that at all. Seeing as you're part of the Akatsuki and all." She looks at him and continues when she sees him frowning. "Don't worry. You don't have to tell me anything. I know everything already. Or at least what's been written. Since you guys are part of a book series, I know most everything about everyone in your world."

The Uchiha tilts his head slightly and studies the girl next to him. "Do you know why I killed my clan? Do you know why I let Sasuke live?"

Chelsea looks out into the darkness and begins speaking. "Yeah, I know it all. I don't remember all of the details anymore but I remember the basics of it all. You killed your clan because you were ordered to by the village. The Uchiha clan was becoming corrupt and the elders wanted the threat eliminated. You took the mission on the condition that they let you keep Sasuke alive." She pauses and Itachi hears her sigh quietly. "You let him see you that night because you wanted him to become stronger than you so he could kill you, when the time came. You felt and still feel guilty for killing your clan and leaving Sasuke on his own. You wanted him to hate you, so that you might feel better for what you did. You joined Akatsuki and you were Jiraiya's contact the whole time."

She looks into Itachi's eyes and places a hand over his. "You were a good brother, even if he didn't know it at the time. After you…after your battle, Madara took him to his hideout and told him everything. After that, Sasuke vowed to destroy Konoha to get revenge for you. He even cried for you. He's a strong person and I respect him very much. I know you love him and he does now, too." She returns her gaze to the trees and waits.

Itachi looks at the girl next to him and frowns. _It seems as if this girl actually cares about my brother and I. No one has cared about us for a very long time. _He turns his hand over and twines his fingers with Chelsea's.

The brunette looks down at their joined hands in shock and looks up at him with a silent question formed. Itachi senses this and begins speaking quietly. "Yes, all of that is true and I believe everything you say happened after my death. I will now tell you about how I am here today."

He looks at Chelsea and she nods for him to continue, eager to hear the story. "Before Leader had died, he had found a way to resurrect the dead. I do not know how or why. I believe he created a jutsu of some sort. He resurrected Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara and myself. Deidara and I were the only ones to wake up after the resurrection. As far as I know, the other two are still unconscious. The four of us that are here were on a mission to find a forbidden jutsu. I had no idea what it does. We were only told that it is vital that we retrieve it and that we do not pick it up with our bare hands. Now we know what it is. It is a dimension teleportation jutsu. I believe that Madara wanted it so that he can come here and control your world as well as our own."

"Whoa, hold on a sec. You mean to tell me that Madara, the ultimate evil, the guy who started the fourth ninja war, who has no care whatsoever for those around him, is the one that resurrected you? The bastard that poses as Tobi in public so that we don't know what he truly looks like? Seriously? You're working for HIM now? I thought you hated his guts. What happened?" Chelsea asks quickly. She's surprised when Itachi chuckles quietly. "What's so funny?"

He looks at her again and smiles. "You are a very interesting person, Chelsea. I have never met someone quite as unique as you. Yes, I am now working for him, but only as a ruse. He knows I hate him and I know that he doesn't trust me. The only reason he brought me back is because he knows I will do anything to protect Sasuke. There is a problem we might have to face, though. It seems as if the scroll didn't come here with us. Which means that it is still there in my world and Madara can still get ahold of it and so can Kabuto. I just hope that someone else finds it before either of them do."

"Do you think that Madara is still planning to come here? It would be bad if he does because there is no way someone can stand up to him, with or without chakra. He's pretty badass. Even you would have a lot of trouble against him."

"That is not completely true. You forget that chakra is what he relies on most. Without it he is much weaker than he seems. He does not train his body as well as he should. The only way he is still alive is the body transfer jutsu he uses. If he does come here, I think the eight of us will be able to handle him easily."

"You said 'eight of us'. Do you really believe that the Leaf-nin will work with you?"

"If they do not, they will never return to their home. We have the same goal, so I believe that, if it comes to it, they will work with us."

"I didn't think of it that way. I think you're right." She pauses and laughs. "I think this is the most you've talked in your whole life. It's weird how I'm the one you opened up to, but it's nice at the same time because it shows me that you trust me." She leans on him and rests her head on his shoulder.

He looks down at her and then out into the woods. "You are the first person who was willing to confront me and ask questions. Everyone else either did not care or they were too afraid to even be near me. When you asked me about my eyes, I thought that maybe you are someone that I can trust enough to talk to without hiding anything. The only reason I never talk is because it is my nature. I have always been so focused on missions and Sasuke that I found it a nuisance to speak to someone if there was no need to. After coming here, I realize that I should have talked to someone a long time ago. It would have helped me out with a lot of issues."

"I only asked you questions because my curiosity overwhelms my common sense sometimes. Well, that and the fact that you've always been my favorite character in the series. I even cried when you died. I was a very angry person when that happened." The brunette chuckles quietly. "What's worse is that a few friends and I dedicated the seventeenth of every month to you. That was my idea. We're hard-core fans, if you hadn't noticed." She sits up and grins at him.

Itachi squeezes her hand lightly and frowns. "Do you think…"

"Do I think what, Itachi?"

He looks at her in contemplation. "Do you think that we could do this again? It's…calming to just talk to someone."

The brunette grins. "Of course, I'd be glad to talk to you whenever you want to. All you have to do is what you did today. Just show up and start talking to me."

"Thank you."

Chelsea smiles and looks back out into the darkness. They sit there for a while in silence, hands intertwined. After what seems like an hour, Chelsea speaks up. "We should probably go inside. It's getting late and I have work tomorrow."

Itachi nods and they stand up. Chelsea hugs him and after a moment of shock he allows his arms to encircle her in a tight embrace. "You don't have to worry anymore. No one here is out to get you and I'm here for you when you need me." Chelsea speaks into his shirt. She breathes in his scent and closes her eyes with a quiet exhale.

They release each other and Chelsea moves to walk past Itachi to the door. Instead of moving out of her way, he walks to the door first and opens it for her. She grins at him and walks inside. They say their 'good nights' and enter their separate rooms.

Chelsea carefully steps over Tobi and sits on her bed. A few minutes later, she crawls under the covers and closes her eyes. She falls asleep with a smile on her face.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

Jessica steps out onto the front porch with a few bottles of water. "Hey, you guys! Quit fighting for a second and come get some water! I don't want you dying from dehydration."

Said 'guys' pause to look up at the tall girl and walk across the property, onto the porch. Itachi takes a bottle and sits down on the bench. Kisame grabs two of the remaining three bottles and drains them in seconds.

Deidara scowls darkly. "You're only supposed to take one, yeah."

"Don't even start, Deidara. You know there's more, so keep your mouth shut." Chelsea throws a bottle at him from the doorway. She playfully bumps her hip against his as she passes and sits down on Itachi's left. She throws her arm around his shoulders, receiving a scowl from the Uchiha, and grins. "So, how's the training going so far?"

Kisame laughs sadistically. "Are you fucking kidding? I'm having a blast. It's been forever since I've fought anyone, seriously or not. I almost forgot how good it feels."

The brunette gives a thumbs up. "Cool. What about you, Itachi? How well do you think its going?"

The Uchiha's scowl softens slightly. "I believe that we will be well-prepared when the time comes to fight."

"That's good. I've thought about it and I think the Konoha-nin should come over every now and then to train with you. That way, you'll all be able to work together." Jessica announces.

"I don't see why we should work with them. We can defend ourselves without their help." Deidara argues.

"That may be so, in your world. In our world, seeing as there is no chakra whatsoever; you will need their help if anyone comes here that you have to fight." Chelsea points out.

"I agree with Shorty. We depend on our chakra so much that we forget to train ourselves physically, as well."

"Kisame, I swear if you call me that again, I will kill you in your sleep." Chelsea growls angrily. "I hate how people seem to enjoy pointing out my height. Especially, when they're about a foot taller than me."

"Wow, don't freak out so much, yeah. It's only a nickname, Shorty." Deidara laughs when the brunette's glare turns to him.

"I'll kill you, too, Deidara. Don't think I can't do it."

Jessica faces the blond. "I think you'd better stop. She's completely serious about it. She's killed someone before for calling her that." She finishes with a snort that gives away her hidden laughter. Everyone except Itachi laughs. Chelsea stands up and storms into the house, fuming. "You guys are all assholes!" She shouts before slamming her door.

"I think we really pissed her off this time. What do you think?" Kisame looks over at the Uchiha.

Itachi looks at him calmly, a hint of a glare showing on his smooth features. He stands up and walks into the house without a word.

"Wow. Do you think he's mad at us, too?" The large man frowns in confusion.

Jessica shrugs. "I guess so. Chels told me they had a sentimental talk one night, like a week ago. I guess they got real close or something.'

"Like friends, hmm?" Deidara scoffs. "I don't think he is even capable of caring for someone."

"You'd be surprised. His battle with Sasuke ended really sad. Apparently, Chels cried when he died."

"She cried? If we're characters, then why did she cry over him?"

Jessica rolls her eyes and sits down in one of the chairs. "We all have favorite characters. Take me for example. Deidara was my all-time favorite, until I started cosplaying as Sasori. My friends told me that I'm a lot more like him than Deidara, and after a while I grew attached. So now, they're equally my favorite."

"You like Danna that much, hmm?" Deidara frowns. "Why?"

"It doesn't matter why. I just do."

"So what about Shorty, then. Who's her favorite?"

"Itachi has always been her favorite character. That has never wavered even once, but she has phases where she likes one character a lot. Almost enough to become her number one, but not quite. At one point, it was you, Kisame and now you're her second favorite. Another time it was Kabuto, then Shikamaru, then Zetsu, and so on." Jessica finishes and takes a deep breath.

"Really? I'll have to bug them about that now, if he's always been her favorite."

"I wouldn't if I were you. She's very serious about stuff like that. Calling her Shorty is a minor thing, but screwing with her favorites and her reactions to things that happen to them…I would just stay away from that topic." Jessica warns, this time completely serious.

Deidara huffs. "I still don't see why you like Danna so much. There's nothing to like about him. All his views are backwards and he doesn't even listen to my views."

Jessica rolls her eyes. "There's actually a lot to like about him. My views are the same as his and I don't think there's anything backwards about them."

"So you believe all that crap about how 'art must be preserved'?" Deidara retorts, with air quotes.

"Yeah, I do. If you really like something that you've created, why get rid of it? I keep all of my art because I love it. Every piece that I've drawn is in my room somewhere. Either on the walls or in a drawer so that they'll be safe from harm."

"No way. Art is that fleeting moment of euphoria when something explodes. You have to admit that I was art when I died." The blond grins at the memory.

Jessica's frown disappears. "It was pretty amazing, but not completely art, no. The way your body changed, when the mouth on your chest ate the clay, was art. It was…beautiful, you could say. But the exploding part wasn't art at all. It was just a huge, destructive explosion. An impressive one, but an explosion still."

Deidara looks at the tall girl like she just grew a second (or fourth) head. "What? How could you not see the beauty of an explosion? THAT was the beautiful part of the whole thing, not how my body transformed!"

Jessica, about to retort, is interrupted by Kisame. "Will you two just shut up about the fucking art? It gets old really fast." He shakes his head with a sigh and walks into the house.

Deidara and Jessica stare at each other in disbelief before looking away with separate huffs and crossed arms.

* * *

"I think we should tell them the exact reason why I asked you all to start training. None of them are going to work with the Konoha-nin if they don't see a reason to." Chelsea looks up at Itachi.

Chelsea is sitting on her bed, writing something on paper. Itachi is leaning against the bedroom door, arms crossed. "I agree. They will need to know what they will be fighting against when Madara or Kabuto show up."

The brunette nods, thoughtfully. "We should tell them during dinner tonight, so they have the whole night to think it over. If they agree, I'll ask Chris to bring the others over tomorrow and we can work on strategies."

"That will be fine. What are you working on?" He walks the short distance to the bed and reads the paper.

"I'm working on training exercises. I think you should work four on four, first. Akatsuki versus Konoha, and then I'll group you guys so there's two of each group on each team. So, it'll be two of you and two Konoha against the other four. Make sense?" She looks up at him and smiles.

Itachi nods faintly. "I believe that will work fine. Pair would work best after that. One of us and one of them on each team.'

"Ok." Chelsea quickly jots down the idea and sets the papers on the bedside table. "You should get back outside and train a little more today."

Itachi calmly looks at her and his mouth curls up to form a small smile. He turns and opens the door. Chelsea stands and walks past him, with a smirk. The two of them walk outside and find only Tobi on the porch. "Where did the other two go?"

"They went back over there to train more. They told Tobi to stay here."

Chelsea smiles. "Ok, then. You and Itachi can train with each other this time. You can go ahead and head down there now." She pushes the boy down the steps and he runs to catch up to the Uchiha.

The brunette goes back inside and heads to Jessica's room. She knocks and opens the door without waiting for an answer. This had become a tradition for the two girls after knowing each other for almost five years.

"Whatcha doing?" She walks over to the bed and looks at the pad of paper in Jessica's hand. A picture was beginning to form. "Who're you drawing?"

Without pausing to look up, the tall girl replies. "I'm drawing our dysfunctional family. I thought it would be a good thing to do, since they might be gone any day. I want to remember this for a long time." She smiles softly as the shape of a human becomes more detailed. "Kisame is going to be the hardest because of his height and his hair. Oh, well. It'll still look good."

"Of course it'll look good. You're an amazing artist. I still think you should draw professionally and earn money for you pictures. I think you would do really well." Chelsea rests her head on her friend's shoulder.

Jessica looks at the short girl and smiles. "Tired?"

Chelsea nods. "Mhmm. It's stressful taking care of a household of men."

"Go get some sleep, then. Sam and I can take care of them for a little while and Gabriel can help whenever he comes over here." She shoves the girl off of her. "Go on. Go to bed."

Chelsea grumbles something unintelligible and stands up. She waves half-heartedly and walks out of the room and into her own. She crawls into her bed and is asleep within seconds.

* * *

"I'm home!" Jessica shouts as she walks into the kitchen. She holds up a few grocery bags. "I've got dinner! Come and get it!" She announces proudly.

Bodies swarm around the bags and grab their share of the chicken strips and soda. Once the crowd clears, Itachi shows up and takes some of the food. Oddly, he sits next to Chelsea on the couch, instead of going straight back to his room. Sam and Jessica are the only ones to notice this, because they're the only ones not stuffing their faces with food.

Once everyone is mostly done, Chelsea clears her throat loudly. "Listen up, guys! Itachi and I have something to tell you. We figured you should know, so you can think about it and let us know how you feel about the situation."

Kisame snorts into his soda. "Tell us what, exactly? Sounds to me like there's something going on, if you know what I mean."

The brunette glares at him. "Something is going on, but nothing like what you think it is."

"Madara or Kabuto will be coming here anytime." Itachi says, effectively keeping Kisame quiet as he processes the words.

Jessica frowns. "Are you sure? How do you know they'll be able to get here? We don't even know you guys got here."

"Actually, we do. Itachi and I have a theory." She looks at the Uchiha. "You can explain it to them."

Itachi nods and begins speaking. "In our world, we were on a mission to retrieve a forbidden jutsu. We were told that it is vital that we find it and bring it back, without touching it with our skin. When we reached the location, the four from Konoha were already there. The Kyuubi was stupid enough to touch the scroll containing the jutsu. There was a flash and when I woke up I was in the clearing where you found us."

"We believe that the scroll is still in your world, which means that Madara can still retrieve it and so can Kabuto. If either one of them gets ahold of it and shows up here, we're basically screwed. More so, if it's Kabuto. That's why I asked you guys to start training every day. It's so that you can effectively defend yourselves when they show up."

Deidara scowls. "Why do you think Madara wants to come here, hmm? What does he have to gain from this world?"

"Nothing. He has nothing to gain from this place, other than the blood-thirst from gaining more power. All he seems to enjoy is controlling everything he can and more. That's why we have to stop him when he gets here. I don't want him loose in another world." Chelsea states pointedly.

Kisame shows his trademark grin and stands. "Well, then. What're we sitting around for? Let's get to work."

Jessica laughs. "It's eight o'clock at night. I don't think now's the best time to bring anyone over here. I'll call Chris and let her know what's going on, and she can bring the others with her tomorrow."

The tall man groans and flops back onto the couch. "Fine. I don't see why we can't start now, though."

"Oh, well. You can deal. Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day, so you might as well get some rest for now." Chelsea glances at the (former) Akatsuki with a pointed look. "So, get to your rooms before I kick your asses."

Sam nods. "I agree with Chels. I, at least, need some sleep and you guys are sitting on my bed. So, shove off."

Deidara grumbles as he stands and heads to his and Jessica's room. "Whatever." He waves dismissively before closing the door behind himself.

Jessica chases after him, with a glare. "Hey! You can't go in there without asking me first. I don't care if you're living here." The door slams and Kisame cackles.

Chelsea walks into the kitchen and begins loading the dishwasher. "I don't care what's going on with them, as long as it doesn't affect me negatively. Now go, Kisame."

He stands again and groans. "Yeah, yeah. I'm going, Shorty. No need to repeat yourself."

She shakes her head. "He's definitely a unique guy, that's for sure."

Itachi comes into the kitchen and starts to clean the counters. "I believe everyone is unique, so I'd imagine it's a rather apparent thing."

The brunette frowns and turns to face the man behind her. She leans on the counter and hums thoughtfully. "I…" She shakes her head and turns back to the dishes, not before noticing a slightly amused expression on his face.

A moment later, a hand grabs her shoulder and turns her around again. Her frown deepens and slowly forms into a look of confusion at Itachi's expression.

She opens her mouth to speak, but quickly closes it when he grabs her by the hand and drags her out onto the porch. He releases her when they step outside and closes the door.

"What the hell was that? It's not like you to act on impulse." Chelsea asks, arms crossed in annoyance.

Itachi's expression of indifference changes as he studies the girl in front of him. He sits on the bench, leaving room for her. She hesitantly sits next to him and waits. A few minutes pass before he speaks. "What were you going to say before?"

Chelsea blinks at the sound of his voice and glances at him before ducking her head, hiding the blush forming on her face. "It's nothing that can't wait." She mumbles.

"That means nothing. I would like to know." He answers just as quietly. The softness of his voice causes her to look up at him.

She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. "I was going to say that I'll miss you guys when you have to leave. It's going to be really empty here without our 'dysfunctional family', as Jess puts it." She gives him a small smile and shrugs. "I'll get over it quickly enough, though."

The brunette waits quietly and notices a barely there smirk on the Uchiha's smooth features. She jumps slightly when his hand covers hers in a friendly gesture. "When we have the chance to go back to that world, I'd like you to come with me. Friends are supposed to stick together, correct?"

Chelsea's smile disappears and a look of shock takes its place. "Holy…Uhm…Well, shit." She pauses to collect her thoughts and looks into his eyes, tears forming in her own. "You're completely serious, aren't you? That's a huge decision, Itachi. I'd have to think about it, but yeah. That would be really awesome. What about Jess and the others? What about everyone I know here? They would notice if I disappeared one day. I can't just pick up and leave. There's no way that…" She trails off and bites her lip, frustrated.

Itachi smiles and squeezes her hand softly. "There is no need for you to panic. I'm not asking you to leave today. Jessica and the others can come with us, if they want."

"Do you really care about us enough to ask us to come with you to a foreign world? Usually, you're the guy who won't even smile at someone, let alone admit to caring for them as a friend. What changed?"

"Truthfully, I don't know what changed. When we came here, I felt like something was missing. It wasn't chakra or anything I could think of. I believe this is what it was: friendship, connections on a personal level."

Chelsea smiles and stands, pulling him with her. "We've gotta talk to Jess about this. It'll help me decide easier."

She easily drags him inside, but is jarred to a stop when he pauses in the hall. She turns around with a scowl. "C'mon. We don't have all day, you know."

"I think we should wait."

"Wait for what?" She asks testily.

Itachi raises a brow in amusement. "Wait to talk to anyone for at least a month. You must agree that it'd be rushing into things to tell her now, am I right?"

Chelsea releases his hand and huffs. She watches him for a moment. "Unfortunately, I do agree with you, even though I don't like keeping something like that a secret. I'll wait until you decide I can tell her. Happy?"

He nods and smiles slightly. "Yes, I am happy."

She nods stiffly and turns to go to her room. "I'm going to bed, then." She waves at him.

The Uchiha coughs quietly and she turns to face him, glaring now. "_What?_ Can't you see I'm tired?" She huffs.

"We still need to finish the kitchen, first."

A low growl escapes the short girl's throat as she stalks into the kitchen. She empties the dishwasher, angrily. At one point, she spins around too quickly and nearly falls. Itachi catches her with a small laugh. "Watch it, Shorty. You're going to get yourself hurt." The way he used the name wasn't in a teasing manner, but friendly and calm.

The brunette frowns and looks up at him. With the close proximity they're in, she has to crane her neck to look up at the man in front of her.

"You're acting really weird today, Itachi. What's up?" She asks as she pulls out of his grip.

He looks down at her with a blank expression before walking past her and into his room, closing the door quietly. Chelsea sighs and turns back to the still unfinished kitchen. _Someone's gotta do it.

* * *

_**This was one of my favorite chapters to write. I'm not sure why but it was. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.**

**Reviews make both the Akatsuki and I squee with joy. I love you guys!  
**


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